Parnell Square attacker Bouchaker likely to serve sentence with sex offenders

Riad Bouchaker, convicted of attempting to murder three children in Dublin, is expected to be housed with sex offenders for his own protection. Sentencing is set for October 12.

Bouchaker to be held alongside sex offenders after Parnell Square conviction

Riad Bouchaker, convicted of eight offences in connection with the Parnell Square East knife attack of November 2023, is expected to serve his prison sentence in a unit predominantly housing sex offenders — despite none of his convictions involving a sexual crime. Dublin Live reports that prison sources believe the arrangement is necessary for his own protection.

"He will more than likely have to go in with the sex offenders for his own safety," a source told Dublin Live. "There is no way he could be placed in the general population — it would be too dangerous for him."

Bouchaker, 52, is currently held on the D2 landing of Cloverhill Prison in west Dublin, a wing reserved for inmates with the most serious mental health needs. As Cloverhill is a remand-only facility, he will be transferred once a sentence is handed down.

Midlands Prison or Mountjoy

According to sources cited by Dublin Live, the two most likely destinations are the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise, Co Laois, or Mountjoy Prison in inner-city Dublin. Sources said the Midlands is the more probable outcome.

Should Bouchaker be sent to the Midlands, he would be held in its E wing — the unit that predominantly houses sex offenders — where Jozef Puska has been held since 2023. Puska, 35, is serving a life sentence for the January 2022 murder of primary school teacher Ashling Murphy, 23, in Tullamore, Co Offaly.

Sources also told Dublin Live that Bouchaker would likely face segregation and up to 23 hours per day in lock-up, given the assessed risk of attack from other inmates.

"There will be a massive target on his back," one source said. "He is so infamous for what he did that prisoners would go at him the second they saw him, there's no doubt about that."

Eight guilty verdicts, unanimous

On Wednesday, a jury of nine women and three men at the Central Criminal Court found Bouchaker guilty on all eight counts following a trial lasting more than three weeks. The charges included three counts of attempting to murder children, one count of assault causing serious harm, one count of producing a knife with intent to commit an offence, and three further counts of assault causing harm.

The jury deliberated for just under five hours across two days before returning unanimous verdicts on each count. They rejected the defence argument that Bouchaker did not intend to kill the children — a central element of the attempted murder charges.

Prosecuting counsel Karl Finnegan SC had argued that there was no "innocent answer" for Bouchaker's actions and that the only reasonable inference was an intent to kill. The jury agreed.

Trial judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt thanked the jury and told them he believed their verdicts were "entirely in line with the evidence." He exempted them from further jury service for 25 years.

Attack left child with lifelong brain injury

The attack took place in Dublin city centre on 23 November 2023. During the trial, jurors examined the 36cm carving knife Bouchaker used in the assaults. One of the child victims sustained a severe, permanent brain injury as a result. The incident sparked widespread unrest and rioting across Dublin in the days that followed.

Family members of the injured children, many of whom attended the full trial and pre-trial hearings, embraced one another in court following the verdicts.

Garda interviews and social welfare claim

In interviews with Gardaí, Bouchaker — a naturalised Irish citizen, Algerian-born — stated that the Department of Social Welfare's refusal to grant him payments had triggered the attack. "If the department of social welfare had helped him, this wouldn't have happened," he told detectives, according to evidence given at trial.

He said the refusal made him feel "this country is telling me to leave" and that he was not in his right mind at the time. He denied deliberately targeting the smallest children he could find.

Sentencing set for October 12

Bouchaker faces a potential life sentence. The offences of attempted murder and assault causing serious harm each carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, though the precise term will be determined by Mr Justice Hunt at a sentencing hearing on 12 October.

Legal sources told Dublin Live they expect Bouchaker to receive a minimum of 20 years, though the sentence is likely to be backdated to November 2023, when he first entered custody.

At the October hearing, Mr Justice Hunt will hear submissions from both prosecution and defence. The child victims — now aged between seven and nine — will be invited to make victim impact statements, which may be delivered in person, in writing, or read into the record by lawyers, Gardaí, or family members. The judge asked that the children be informed of this option. He also certified the defence for a neuropsychologist's report ahead of sentencing, with a half-day set aside for the hearing.

More than a dozen witnesses who encountered the scene of the attack gave evidence over the course of the trial.

Source: Dublin Live